LIBRARY 




RETT A PARROT T 

1 9Q.0 











ClassJiJ t 5 3) 
Book._iAli?:_LS__ 
Copyright ]^"_J-11_A 

CQEIQRIGIIT DEPOSm 



PRESS OF 

THE HANSEN COMPANY 

SAN FRANCISCO 



n 



RETTA PARROTT 
I g 2 o 



HARR WAGNER PUBLISHING CO. 

SAN FRANCISCO 

CALIFORNIA 



^^ 



sw 






Copyrighted 1920 

by 

Retta Parrott 



©C!.A605159 



^;^ LIBRARY WINDOWS 



Contentsi 

Page 

Illustration, "The First Rain" ... 6 

The First Rain 7-8 

September Sunshine 9-10 

Sequoia and Spire 11-12 

The Plaza 13-14 

Falling Leaves 15-16 

Illustration, "A Battle of the Elements" 18 

A Battle of the Elements 19-20 

A Winter Picture 21-22 

A Blue Dusk -3-24 

A Mystic Morning 25-26 

Swelling Buds 27-28 

A Typical Day 29-30 

Elms in Bloom 3^-3'^ 

F''"'tage • 33-34 

The Equinoctial Storm 35-36 

The Factory Fire 37-38 

The Easter Moon 39-4° 

Winged Seeds 41-42 

Looking West 43-44 

Young Leaves 45-46 

The Rainbow 47-48 

A Perfect Day 49-50 

June Weather . . . ' 51-52 

Summer Clouds 53-54 

Evening Breezes 55-56 

Illustration, "The Two Winds" ... 58 

The Two Winds 59-60 

Larger Views 61-62 



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iForetoorb 

"1 "1 ERE are twenty-six sonnets from 
f^ w l the civic center of Sacramento, the 
1^ 1^ heartof "The Heart of California." 
This allows one for each fortnight 
of the working year which began in the 
fall of nineteen -nineteen, the dates, how- 
ever, not being distributed with perfect 
regularity. The sonnets show the principal 
changes of the seasons as observed through 
windows of the City Library from the 
viewpoint of the reference librarian, with 
such reflections as naturally arise out of 
the times and the surroundings. The dates 
appended are representative rather than 
absolute, although in most cases not far 
from the day described, nor from that upon 
which the sonnet took form. If this little 
work shall give to any one a tenth part of 
the pleasure and appreciation of common 
scenes which the composition of it in home 
hours has given the writer, its publication 
will be fully justified. —R.P. 



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James cA. Holden 



Page Six 



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S^ 



Cfje JFirsit CSain 



Page Seven 



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^"Y^ OW comes the first day of the year 
V. J j for me, 

^ L And heaven responds by sending 
the first rain: 

Dust from the trees and cobwebs from the 
brain 

Are washed away; the weeks of travel free 
O'er open road, and mountain trail, and 
sea, 

Have helped the mind and body to regain 
Their wonted vigor, and with might and 
main 

Take up the routine of the year to be. 
What matter that the sky is lowering, 
Dark with the mottled gray of nimbus 

clouds. 
Or that a robe of faded green enshrouds 
The elms, which wore so rich a dress in 

spring? 

The Lord is mindful of impending dearth 
And sends an early rain to bless the earth. 



September the First 



Page Eight 



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September jg>uns(l)ine 



Page Nine 




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f ^ 'HROUGHOUT the year there are 

I I "^ three days and more 

\j-^ Of sunshine, for each one by cloud 

obscured; 
The burning heat of summer is endured, 
Or else escaped on mountain, or the shore; 
But when September sun begins to pour 
Its mellow light through windows, reas- 
sured. 
Home-stayers smile; and wanderers are 

lured 
Back to the duties wearisome before. 
And yet it is the radiant summer heat 
Which puts the sugar in the grape and pear. 

Colors the peach, and makes the orange 
bear 

Its early crop of luscious fruit, and sweet: 

So, for abundant sunshine, let us lift 

Praises to God for this most perfect gift. 



September the Fifth 



P a ge Ten 



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Sequoia anb ^pire 



Page Eleven 



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/^ r\IEWED from remotest corner of 
\ J the room 

^^ Through that southeastern window 
framed in green, 
Is a symboHcal and lovely scene 
Made by the figures of two spires which 

loom 
Into the sky; the tree seems to assume 
The height of the cathedral spire, being 

seen 
At closer range; but over both serene 
Rises the shining cross, dispersing gloom. 
The lifted cross will henceforth bring good 

cheer — 
Oh, not a golden one, or such as might 
Be made from that red-hearted tree, whose 

height 
Contests for ages, thousandth year on 

year. 
To reach the altitude of that fair spire — 
'Twill be the Christ as he is lifted higher! 



October the Twelfth 



Page Twelve 




Page Thirteen 



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eLEAR breathing space close to the 
city's heart 
Where children play on ever ver- 
dant grass 
And old men rest; where hurrying people 

pass 
On the diagonal 'twixt residence and mart 
Nor pause to read the weather; where the 

art 
Of music has its hour, the folk en masse 
Gathering to sing or listen; where no class 
Predominates, but each may have a part: 
This is the plaza. Here before the dawn 
A year ago, an earnest crowd was drawn 
To celebrate the first act of world peace. 
In wistful hope that war might henceforth 

cease. 
Long may the plaza be the open place 
Where loyal citizens speak face to face! 



November the Eleventh 



Page Fourteen 



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iFalling JLtabtsi 



Page Fifteen 



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'^: 



'IS Indian Summer, and the yellow 

leaves 
Scarce faltering, drop singly into 
view 
Against the velvet trunks of elms, which 

through 
The glowing eastern window one perceives; 
Sunshine among the branches interweaves 
Its soft translucent light of golden hue, 
Making a mural Claude Lorrain might do, 
With lines and balance such as Low achieves : 
Across the park a funeral cortege goes, 
And in an hour a second one will pass, 
Bearing two gentle, ripened friends; 
Fallen, like autumn leaves upon the grass. 
How delicately nature makes amends 
For all that might seem harshness at life's 
close. 



November the Eighteenth 



Page Sixteen 




Page Seventeen 



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S^ 




James cA, Holden 



Page Eighteen 




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a Seattle of tfje elements; 



Page Nineteen 



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S^ 



Z*"^ "lONDER the barren elm trees writhe 
V- / I and lash, 

-V-^ Turn pale and gray through smoky 
gusts of rain, 
While copious waters gurgle down the 

drain; 
Upon the southern windows raindrops 

splash 
In steely bayonets; to north, a flash 
Ot lightning writes its zigzag on a pane: 
A rare electric storm has come again 
Charging all nature with impetuous dash. 
How still, in contrast, seems the reference 

room ; 
A score of readers here in quiet sit. 
Bent o'er their books in attitudes of ease. 
Upon no face the slightest touch of gloom : 
Not strange the fact, when one considers it, 
That even in battle men have felt great 

peace. 



November the Thirtieth 



Page Twenty 



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a ©inter Picture 



Page Twenty-one 



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/^ |"\HITE clouds along the blue horizon 

11) «'"g 

^•^^ A banner of six stripes, while to and 
fro 
The idle branches sway; a week ago 
The last leaf fell, not to be made in spring 

The sport of impish buds; quite gently 
swing 

The lace-embroidered boughs, which lack 

but snow 
To make a winter picture, and bestow 
Completion on the season's offering: 
This, through the eastern window; yet to 

move 
A few feet to the left would turn the scene 
From wintry barrenness to living green; 
Magnolia and palm stand up to prove 
Sunshine, instead of snow, to be the fare 
Accustomed here, although the elms are 

bare. 



December the Sixteenth 



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Page Twenty -two 



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i^ 



ai 2?lue ^usJfe 



Page Twenty-three 



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OMETIMES a cloudy or a foggy 
day 
Will bring at dusk those blue lights 
in the sky, 
Looking, through windows, as if heaven 

were nigh; 
Although without, the scene is dismal gray: 
The cause must be refraction; or the way 
The glow from buff electroliers on high 
And warm tones of the wall, release the eye 
So it seeks out the azure, there to stay. 
This is a home for many; gathered here 
Are those who eat at restaurants, and sleep. 
Perchance, in some cold room devoid of 

cheer; 
They smile when in this place, though there 

they weep. 
May be in comfort to their bodies given 
Their souls can catch a nearer view of hea- 
ven. 



December the T^wenty -seventh 



W§^ 



Page T w e n t y - f o u r 



m^ 



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a Mv^tic lEorning 



Page T w e n t y - f i \' e 



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fy^ ' 'HIS morning a white fog envelops 

(b '" 

\f^ The trees and towers; bedims the 

gaunt outhne 
Of Pythian Castle; turns to specter fine 
The death's-head on that medieval hall, 
Giving the whole new power to appall; 
Makes ghostly elms their phantom arms 

entwine; 
Displays, like seaweed floating in the brine, 
The fan-like tops of trees, remote and tall: 
So there are authors here with art to throw 
Illusive vapor 'round events, and show 
Things weird, which else were simple 

verity: 
Such are a Bulwer-Lytton and a Poe, 
Who in imagination love to see 
Familiar things thus wrapped in mystery. 



January the Thirteeyith 



Page Twenty-six 



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^^ 



^toeUing 2?uti3S 



Page Twenty-seven 



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^^ l'\HY be content in sonnets thus to 

*•/ I 1 dwell 
^"^^ On views seen through the windows 
of one room; 

Scant patches of blue sky, and trees which 
loom 

Above the sills, softened by buds that 
swell? 

The grass grows out of doors, we know full 
well, 

And yellow sunshine all the paths illume; 

While pussy-willows by the river bloom 

And bluebird notes the coming spring fore- 
tell. 

Yet stay! If Helen Keller could but see 

Against the sky those gently swelling leaves. 

That early swallow dipping from the eaves. 

What would she give for such a sight? Shall 
we 

Look with unseeing eyes on signs which 
bring 

Within close range these harbingers of 



sprmg 



January the Twenty-fourth 



Page Twenty-eight 



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an Cppical Pap 



Page Twenty -nine 



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/* A LITTLE haze of fog or smoke or 
v /A dust, 

^ ^ Though not so much but that the 

sun shines through; 

Gray-rimmed the sky and overhead the 

blue; 
A zephyr neither cold nor warm, but just 
Refreshed: this types the many days which 

thrust 
Themselves between extremes, and which 

but few 
Remark. And should it now occur to you 
To praise the day? "Too nice," the answer 

of distrust. 
And yet, if we but did our part as well 
As God does His; if all our common days. 
Free from anxiety, were filled with praise 
And work: — our faith would all the fear 

dispel, 
And great accomplishment would enter in 
To lives now spoiled by fretfulness and sin. 



February the Seventh 



^^ 



^^ 



Page Thirty 




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S^ 



Oflmg in 2?loom 



Page Thirty-one 



L I B R A R Y W I N D O W S 



^■****» OR weeks I've tried that purple 
^ "Tl flush to see 

^"^ Which writers say o'erspreads the 
elms in bloom; 
But at the best, when sunshine floods the 

room, 
They only seem a reddish brown to me; 
I can imagine though, if wholly free 
To choose the setting— snow, let us assume, 
With neutral sky — the elm trees plume on 

plume 
Would glow with color complementary. 
It may be that the Lord would sometimes 

bring 
To us a touch of beauty or of grace, 
Could He detach us from the commonplace 
Of selfish interests to which we cling; 
What glory from the Rich Young Man 

would fall 
Had he but answered to the Master's call! 



February the Twenty-eighth 



Page Thirty-two 




Page Thirty-three 



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^^^EPARTING clouds have left the 

I 1 sky serene, 
O^^ And elms so lately clothed in ruddy 

brown 
Have shaken all their blossom-chaff adown 
Their lichen-covered limbs; the lichen's 

sheen 
Is richly bronze, and of a lustrous green 
In harmony, is the samara gown 
In which each elm is dressed: Now comes 

the crown 
Of all the year, the truit-time long foreseen. 
The mystery of wedded word and thought 
Goes on as inconspicuously here 
As unseen pollen dust with power fraught 
Changes the garb of elms year after year: 
And as the sun lights up the shining seeds 
Occasion will turn words to golden deeds. 



March the "Tenth 



Page Thirty-four 



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Cije <5q[Uinoctial ^torm 



Page Thirty-five 



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/"AN hour ago the sky was heaven's 
Nt-X blue 

*• •* Though flecked by ambient clouds 

all silver lined, 
But now an azure spot one scarce can find 
So quickly have the gray clouds driven 

through 
From south to north; from these will brew 
The equinoctial storm: moisture and wind 
Are stirring ferment, and their force com- 
bined 
Will serve to clothe the earth in verdure 

new. 
As suddenly, and o'er a sky as fair, 
The war clouds swept the world, with 

tumult fraught; 
Fierce strugglings, the ferment of unrest. 
Settling at last to grayness — not despair — 
For when a vision of the coming day is 

caught 
The purpose of the storm is manifest. 



March the Twenty-first 



•sm 



Page Thirty-six 




Page Thirty-seven 



■^m 



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"1 "I OW calm and peaceful seems the 

^ r I sky tonight! 

^ •• Just so another eve Polaris yearned 

From his fixed seat, but eyes that north- 
ward turned 

Were met with clouds of smoke, and then 
the light 

Of mounting flames, and suddenly a bright 

And awful burst of licking tongues, dis- 
cerned 

Before the sound was heard of tanks which 
burned 

With loud explosion, scattering affright. 

Of that great fire the cause is still unknown. 

Although a year has passed away since 
then — 

Spontaneous combustion, say some men: 

It may have been a torch by coward thrown, 

For so sons of perdition plot to make 

A hell on earth for their own father's sake. 



March the Twenty -seventh. 



i^^ 



Patie Thirty-eight 



I> I P3 R A R Y WINDOWS 



Clje e as(ter Moon 



^ 



Page Thirty-nine 



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y^ ^ISES the moon which brings the 
( 1^ Easter nigh! 

••^ It beams in wondrous beauty as of 
old 
On that still Wednesday — with its tale un- 
told— 
In passion week, ere Jesus was to die: 
Against the purple background of the sky 
The elms appear in drapings manifold; 
Their silken seeds, like stitches of dull gold. 
Wrought in a web of rich embroidery. 
Easter, the ornate season, comes in dress 
Of varied hues, a colorful array. 
The vesture of the springtime fresh and 

gay; 
But lilies now the bright blooms dispossess 
As fitter emblems of the risen Lord; 
Who shines, like yon fair moon, by earth 
adored. 



March the Thirty-first 



Page Forty 



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ITT 



l©iugeb ^tth^ 



Pase Forty-one 



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OF late the air is full of flying things: 
Home-making linnets, busy with 
romance, 
New-risen butterflies that flit and glance, 
And downy elm seeds trying out their 

wings; 
Quite frequently is heard the whirr which 

brings 
The airplane near, and searching the ex- 
panse 
From side to side, we note the swift ad- 
vance 
Of man-made bird which through the ether 

sings: 
The task of these has been to practice war 
From the adjacent camp of Mather Field; 
But now, most happily, war measures yield 
To arts of peace, and monster planes fly o'er 
The land, depositing their human freight 
And friendly letters; seeds of love for hate. 



April the Fourteenth 



Page Forty-two 



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S^ 



Hooking Wtit 



Page Forty-three 




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ECAUSE the earth is round, when 

one arrives 
At utmost western land, the Orient 
Confronts. View here a scene significant 
Through that west window; back of it there 

thrives 
A bright ailanthus tree, an immigrant 
From the Celestial Empire; all aslant 
Throughout the undulating limbs there 

drives 
Smoke from a Chinese laundry, which sur- 
vives 
Among the buildings of the civic plant: 
But, dimly seen as background to the whole, 
There stands the Labor Temple, firm and 

strong; 
Will it be equal to the task which long 
Has exercised it, practicing control? 
A prayer must rise from every sincere heart 
That labor will with grace perform its part. 



April the Twenty-fifth 



Page Forty-four 



^#^ 



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joung Heabes; 



Page Forty-five 



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/^"' "^ROM the main floor no plot o\ 

"11 solid ground 
^^ Is visible to one who sits or stands 
Except in this small office, which commands 
A full view of the park; but here abound 
People, and lawns, and flowers: 'round and 

'round 
The barefoot children sport in happy bands 
Beneath the elms, which laugh and clap 

their hands 
So merry do they feel in leaves new-found. 
There is a time to dance, the Preacher saith, 
And for these boys and girls the time is ripe; 
They need no music but the warbler's pipe: 
For the old men on benches, short of 

breath, 
The time is past; but they have danced and 

sung 
On other May-days when the leaves were 

young. 



May the First 



Page Forty-six 



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Cfje dtamtjoto 



Pag-e Forty-seven 



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/^ N March, one evening, eyes were 
g^ ^A raised to scan 

^•*--^ The floating clouds which graced 

the sky, when lo! 
Two segments of an iridescent bow 
Appeared at windows wide apart; their 

span 
Would over-arch the City Hall, whose plan 
Involves a tower high, with clocks (which 

go 
At intervals). The government below, 
Commission formed, has been since it be- 
gan 
Somewhat experimental, and this hour 
It stands in question: will it fade away? 
Or will the tried commissioner, returned 

today 
Bring to the whole such harmony and power 
That like the bow with varied bands in one, 
'Twill signalize a brighter time begun? 



May the Fifteenth 



Page Forty-ei«ht 



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^m 



B Perfect J^ap 



Page Forty-nine 



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i^ 



fV? "'HESE days are all so beautiful, 
I I "^ what could 

\|-^ The Heavenly Father do to furnish 

one 
Of such surpassing merit, that when done, 
It might be called a perfect day? He would 
Not have to make a bluer sky, nor should 
The breeze which checks the warm rays o\ 

the sun 
Be fresher: had the dust which has begun 
To dim the luster of the summer wood. 
Been by an evening shower washed away. 
Then this one might have been a perfect 

day. 
Last month there were such clean-washed 

days, with all 
The glory of the fleeing cloud, the freshened 

breeze. 
The rich and glossy leafage of the trees; 
Unlauded they, until beyond recall! 



June the Second 



Page Fifty 



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^^ 



June l©eatf)er 



Page Fifty-one 



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/"AS though He must have heard the 
y/ \ wish of one 

L Jk Who longed to see a perfect day 

and name 
It such while present — first of all there 

came 
A week of clouds with intermittent sun; 
And then, before the dullness had begun 
To be monotonous, a shower; the same 
A second night; straightway the days be- 
came 
For half a week all perfect, every one 
A model of its kind: the first had white 
And shining clouds which flew like messen- 
gers 
Across the sky; upon the next all light 
And still they hung, as if loath to disperse. 
Trying the earth, like Lowell's sky in June; 
Today is cloudless, heaven and earth in 
tune. 



June the 'Tenth 



S^ 



Page Fifty-two 



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.Rummer Cloubg 



Page Fifty- thr. 



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f >l 'HESE clouds came trooping through 
I I "^ the Golden Gate 

\§^ But yesterday, in veils of fog dis- 
guised; 
And now, like Raphael's angels visualized, 
They mount and soar, triumphant and 

elate: 
The cirro-cumuli, all animate 
Like tumbling cherubs come, well super- 
vised 
By stately clouds, with forms etherealized, 
Who fly like seraphs, watchful and sedate. 
True ministering angels, they all bear 
Gifts for the valley in their shining hands, 
They scatter moisture o'er the thirsty lands. 
And give a softness to the heated air: 
They drop no showers, those rarely come 

at all 
When June is past, till the first rain in fall. 



Ju/y the Eleventh 



W^ 



Page Fifty-four 




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'm 



^Cbening 2?ree^esi 



Page Fifty-fiv( 



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/>• 'HESE clouds came trooping through 
I I "^ the Golden Gate 

\|-^ But yesterday, in veils of fog dis- 
guised; 
And now, like Raphael's angels visualized, 
They mount and soar, triumphant and 

elate: 
The cirro-cumuli, all animate 
Like tumbling cherubs come, well super- 
vised 
By stately clouds, with forms etherealized, 
Who fly like seraphs, watchful and sedate. 
True ministering angels, they all bear 
Gifts for the valley in their shining hands, 
They scatter moisture o'er the thirsty lands. 
And give a softness to the heated air: 
They drop no showers, those rarely come 

at all 
When June is past, till the first rain in fall. 



July the Eleventh 



§^ 



Page Fifty-four 



"^m 



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<£tienmg 2?ree^es! 



Page Fifty-five 



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/^ T matters not how sultry is the heat 
/I ^1 Of noonday, when humidity hangs 
V^y low 

And trails upon the ground; at evening 

blow 
The breezes from the south, fresh and re- 
plete 
With cooling powers; they change the air 

effete 
Which gathers where the people come and 

go 
Or sit and read; new vigor they bestow, 
With promise of a night's repose complete: 
This ebb and flow of atmospheric tides 
Between our inland valley and the sea, 
Functions with pleasing regularity 
O'er waterways where the Coast Range 

divides; 
And when the heat of noontide ebbs away. 
Sea breezes through the open windows play. 



July the Twenty-fijth 



Page Fifty -six 




Page Fifty-seven 




Pasre Fifty-eiKht 



n 



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Cfje Cltjo Winh& 



Page Fifty-nine 



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OUR South Wind is a buxom ma- 
tron, young 
And full of hope; the rain is in 
her hair. 
And from her arms blessings beyond com- 
pare 
Over expectant hills and vales are flung: 
The wild locks of the North Wind have 
been wrung 

Free from all moisture; she is old and spare, 

Hungry and peevish from exposure where 

She climbed the Siskiyous, on border hung. 

When South Wind lays her cheek against 
the pane 

The boughs out yonder swing a deep bye- 
low; 

But when wind from the north begins to 
blow, 

And scratch with sandy fingers, and com- 
plain. 

The branches seem all withered and inane; 

The old witch from the north torments 
them so. 



August the Fifth 



Page Sixty 



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^^ 



Itarger ©ietojf 



Page Sixty-one 



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/^ l"\ITH eyes just lightly closed, but 

/ I I vision clear 

^"^^y Directed through the windows of 

the soul, 

Vacation pictures which embrace the whole 

Of California's length and breadth appear: 

The snow-crowned Shasta, lone, but un- 

austere; 
Jewelled Tahoe, sparkling in ample bowl; 
Fair Tissaack in rosy aureole. 
And twinkling cities from Mount Lowe 

so sheer; 
The creeping waves on Coronado's sand. 
And breakers on the coast of Monterey; 
The crimson clouds of San Francisco Bay. 
Rare panorama of our sunset land! 
What blame if, from the glimmer of the 

heat. 
One's eyes are closed for visions fresh, 

though fleet? 



August the Twelfth 



Page Sixty-two 



^^"^m:^" 




